Dikshit says shanties are ecological problem

New Delhi, June 28 (IANS) Delhi needs to provide for large numbers of migrants, and still be watchful so there are no major calamities, Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit said Friday while addressing a seminar in the national capital.

"What happened in Uttarakhand, people are now saying that it is a man-made disaster because of the several unplanned constructions there. We need to get rid of the jhuggis (shanties) and unauthorised settlements," she said, while addressing a seminar organised by the Associate Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

"Politicians like me and others have been greedy and thought of these colonies as vote banks, but it is time to think about Delhi," she said.

To discourage illegal settlements in the capital, the government is mulling over setting up holding areas for thousands of migrants who come to the city every year in search of livelihood, Dikshit said.

"We are thinking of getting holding areas for people who come here in search of work to get rid of jhuggis (shanties) and illegal settlements," Dikshit said Friday.

According to Dikshit, half a million people come to Delhi every year in search of work.

The chief minister said "enormous multiplicity of authority" acts as a major hindrance in Delhi's development as agencies like Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), Delhi Police and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) were either partly under her government or completely independent.

"We can't carry out any development work on our own in areas like Lutyens' Delhi and Delhi Cantonment. We can only pay the NDMC to do the work," Dikshit said.

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